


The Three Crows

by orphan_account



Series: Storybook Verse [1]
Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Alternate Universe - Once Upon a Time Fusion, Canon-Typical Violence, Curses, Gen, Killua Zoldyck - Heart Stealer, Magic instead of Nen, Nanika may or may not be in love with Killua, Wishes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-13
Updated: 2015-03-13
Packaged: 2018-03-17 03:00:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3512717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Killua got back to the castle two days after Alluka went missing. He didn't hear about it immediately, but slowly discovered for himself, when no matter where he looked, he couldn't find his sister."</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Three Crows

**Author's Note:**

> This came around because I was thinking of writing a OUAT AU of hxh.  
> Will write the backstory fairytales of the characters first.  
> This is strongly influenced by the old fairytales, you know. How they're all creepy and kind of disturbing. Those fairytales.  
> Can be read alone.  
> Nanika is so out of character, but she barely says much so...  
> Warnings: Violence against animals, and violence against humans.

Deep in the enchanted forest, there lived a magical queen. This queen lived alone and ruled alone in an empty kingdom, and always wanted for something more. The queen wanted companions, and waited for centuries for someone to enter her forest.

It happened on the day Killua wasn't home. Alluka had left the grounds of their family's castle to explore and found herself deep in the forest. Panic had gripped her heart when she realized she was lost. That was when she heard a quiet voice calling out to her, beckoning her, and she traveled deeper into the forest.

The path closed behind her.

* * *

 

Killua got back to the castle two days after Alluka went missing. He didn't hear about it immediately, but slowly discovered for himself, when no matter where he looked, he couldn't find his sister.

He gave in after a day of searching and decided to ask his brother, the Dark Wizard.

When he asked, Illumi had shrugged his shoulders.

"Not here, Killu," was the unsatisfactory answer.

That was when Killua began his journey outside of the confines of the castle.

* * *

 

The forest surrounding the castle was dark, as to deter visitors. Alluka and Killua had grown up running through the trees, weaving through the trunks of the trees. Yet they still never went very far.

Killua raced through the trees, heading off in the relative direction a few of the servants had seen his sister go in. The direction they used to go to play, towards the base of the mountain.

They'd never been further than the base, that was where the atmosphere of the forest shifted. It was no longer dark, at least, not in the way their forest was. There was an uncomfortable mystery that cloaked the woods beyond. It was always too quiet, there weren't ever the songs of birds ringing throughout the trees, never the sighting of animal life. Unlike every now and then in their own, when by chance they saw a deer.

So Killua took his first step, the farthest into this forest he'd ever gone...

And his heart nearly stopped.

His footstep made a sound.

But he kept walking anyway, because the sooner he found Alluka, the sooner they could both get out of this creepy forest.

* * *

 

The queen smiled, hugging the girl close to her. Her new friend. When she'd first found Alluka in her forest, the girl was nervous. It was getting dark, she was far from home, but the queen was gracious. She took the lost girl in and fed her and protected her from the evils of the night.

She was a good queen. She helped the lost and weary. What other queen would do that? 

Probably none other. Only Nanika was as good of a queen as this. She tightened her arms around Alluka, happily.

"Y-your Majesty," the girl stuttered, pulling away from Nanika's arms. "I-I have to go back home. Onii-chan will be worried if I'm not back when he gets there."

The queen tsked.

"So oppressive."

She then held the girl out at an arm's length, looking into her eyes. "Do you want to go back, Alluka?"

"I-"

"You can stay here if you want."

* * *

 Killua kicked the mud from the bog his foot had slipped into off with a frown. It was getting dark now, and he still hadn't found Alluka.

The sun had already disappeared beyond the trees, and the atmosphere of the forest had changed. It had been green and purple in the daylight, but it was now glowing blue and pink.

The forest was mystical in the night, and Killua had begun to hear sounds, creatures of night waking and moving. His eyes flickered to a rustle behind him, hands shifting into claws as he did.

A girl emerged, not that much older than Alluka, with gaping abysses for her eyes and mouth.

"Are you Onii-chan," she asked, her voice high and childish, so much like Alluka. He turned to her, hands ready, posed to strike in case he needed to.

"Where's Alluka?" He was purposefully brief, and she noticed his shift.

The girl held out her hands to him. "Give me the heart of a crow."

The request made him pause, assessing the situation.

"If I get you this, will you tell me where my sister is?" The question was asked with dead eyes, hands cracking as they turned back to dull nails.

"I want three hearts, then I'll grant you a wish."

Killua's empty eyes looked into the girl's.

"Okay." He turned away from her, and with a spark of electricity, sped from the forest.

* * *

The first crow he found was in his family's forest, preening its feathers. Killua stopped running, though still with the iridescent white glow that came off him when he used his magic.

He shrouded himself in the darkness of the night and shifted his hand before he approached the bird, steps silent.

At the last possible moment, the bird saw him, but by then, he was already too close.

* * *

 

Nanika ran her hand through Alluka's hair as the girl slept. The girl's calm, even breathing was the only sound in the room.

So Nanika heard the crunching leaves, the sound of someone entering her forest. And she smiled. This boy was fast. He already had one of her hearts.

With a snap of her fingers, he appeared before her. She could see his stance change, having been caught off guard, but he softened, visibly less hostile than he was in their first encounter, the moment he saw Alluka.

Nanika held out her hands to him, eyes blank. He held out the heart, it had been placed in a small brown bag that was becoming bloodstained where the heart leaked out, and placed it in her open hands.

"Give me the heart of a murderer." The request was whispered, as to not wake the sleeping girl. Killua's eyes narrowed at the request.

"Why do I have the feeling you're talking about someone in particular?"

Nanika smiled, so sharp this one.

"One action must qualify another. It was an evil act to kill the bird, so if you kill the most dangerous and feared murderer to ever, it would be like an equaliser."

Killua frowned. "Your logic is a little confusing... but I think I know who you're talking about..."

She nodded. "And I should tell you. If you take too long, she won't be able to leave."

The assassin turned to steel, his eyes growing cold once again.

"How long do I have?"

"Ten more days."

* * *

 

Johness flexed his hands, feeling the rough skin stretch against the dried blood.

Everyone in Zaban City knew his name, whispered it as a warning, as a living nightmare. Johness reveled in his infamy, everyone knew him, but no one would find him. Even though he was a large man, a wall of muscle, he was a master at hiding.

He felt shivers run down his spine when he felt eyes on him.  **No one** in Zaban City ever came down to the sewer, and the darkness that permeated the air chilled him to the bone. Whatever was looking at him wasn't human. It felt as though he was being stalked by a devourer of souls, by a demon, a creature of the night.

The blond man stood and looked around himself. There was nothing but shadows. 

He felt the pain, saw the killer, before his mind had registered what had happened. In front of him was a young man with white hair, his heart in his hand.

Johness reached out toward the man, face contorting in pain.

"That's... mine..." he struggled to say, stumbling, gasping, watching as his heart was placed in a small brown bag.

"Nothing personal." The killer said, before nothing was left of him but blood and sparks.

* * *

Nanika knew she chose well the moment Killua's eyes lit up. He looked so alive with Alluka, he wasn't as empty as any of the times it had been just him and Nanika.

That was the moment Nanika realized that she loved him.

When his eyes were alive, they were so blue, the oceans encased within. Nanika had never seen the ocean, being unable to leave her realm, but through Killua's eyes, she could imagine how it looked. Beautiful. With rippling waters that turned dark during a storm.

To her, his eyes were the ocean.

She couldn't let either of them go.

He still had nine days left. She could make something up, a lie. Something that would make both of them stay.

Or she could tell them the truth, the true depth of how lonely this forest was. And Alluka seemed to like her, she could vouch for her. And Killua would listen to Alluka.

She could be happy...

Nanika held out her hands again.

"Give me the heart of a corrupt king."

And Killua knew just who she meant.

* * *

The Republic of East Gorteau was the staple of corrupt. But no citizens really knew, never really bothered to look into it. They were all in a happy state of ignorance.

Killua slipped through the crowd, a hood covering his hair. No one looked twice at him, simply went about their normal lives.

Two guards stood in front of the palace gate. But probably just as an expected measure, Killua saw too many ways past them for them to be actual guards.

In the end, he could just walk past them. One was ogling passing women and the other was dozing, neither paid any attention to him.

To any passerby's peripheral vision, the hooded man simply disappeared the moment he stepped into grounds. But Killua had used this trick before. It comes with becoming so unnoticeable that one just passes out of focus, he didn't even have to use Godspeed. He'd been using too much of his magic in these little missions anyway.

It was normal for him to use it during actual contracts, but Nanika's requests didn't feel like contracts, but tests. Ways to see if he was even good enough to have his sister back.

If he could kill a king without magic, that would prove it.

Killua used the servant's entrance into the palace, and crept along.

It was night. And inside, Killua could hear music as he approached the throne room.

The king of the East Republic was a pig, that was a commonly known truth. He was worse than Illumi's friend, who's eyes Killua could feel on him sometimes.

His hand shifted, approaching in the ample shadow toward the king.

Who was sharper than he appeared.

"Pause," he ordered the girls and turned to the shadows where Killua stalked.

"I should've expected something like this. A usurper to my throne? Come to claim my life under cover of darkness. Whatever he's giving you, I'll double it. That damned advisor, I knew he'd pull something like this."

Maybe not sharp, but he at least knew Killua was there.

Being the arrogant brat he was, Killua smirked and emerged from the shadows, arms crossed behind him, under his cloak.

"Not like that's why I'm here," he said, eyes shadowed by the hood.

"I'll give you lots of money if you don't kill me." Diego offered with a grin, that bargain probably worked many times before.

Killua moved quickly, flitting past him. Diego fell down.

"I don't want money."

* * *

 

"Here." He thrust the bagged heart into Nanika's hands. "Now grant my wish."

The hollow-eyed girl looked blankly at the bag for a moment than back to Killua.

"'Kay."

"I wish to go back home with my sister."

Inside, Nanika's heart felt as if it had been crushed to dust, her shoulders began shaking as she cried. Killua took a step back, surprised. The queen fell to her knees, clutching the heart to her chest.

"Wh-why are you crying?" Killua stuttered out, his ocean-blue eyes widened.

"Onii-chan!" Alluka raced to them, enveloping the sobbing girl in her arms. "Did you make Nanika cry, Onii-chan?"

Killua could only blink.

"I-I don't know. She just... started crying."

"Nanika." Alluka ran her hand through Nanika's hair and began to hum.

Killua recognized the tune from their childhood.

"N-Nanika, I have a better wish..." He tried again. "I wish all of us could go together, out of this creepy forest." The words were said with a shaky smile. Nanika looked up, before ripping herself out of Alluka's arms and into Killua's.

"I love Killua," she said, the words muffled, into his shirt. "I love Killua!"

He rest her hand on her hair and looked at Alluka, who was grinning.

* * *

 

This is the part of the story where it would end "happily ever after," but it wasn't long after Killua stole three hearts and gained two sisters that the entire mainland was encompassed by looming black smoke.

Killua had wrapped his arms around Alluka and Nanika, trying to protect them. But this spell was Illumi's work, and he would be damned before he let anything get in his way...


End file.
